Your Friday morning essential read. Five local feel-good highlights, including exclusive special offers and events. Prepared with love by the team at Camdenist

 EXPERIENCE: Monopoly IRL + cocktail bar & restaurant 

Camden becomes home to the real world debut of the UK’s best-selling board game tomorrow, with the opening of

Monopoly Lifesized

on Tottenham Court Road. As our apparent thirst for ‘real' experiences rather than buying 'stuff’ on the high street continues, the former Paperchase flagship has been transformed to offer a range of different 4D challenges featuring mental and physical puzzles, all based on the world-famous property game. It's been designed by a team including a set designer from Secret Cinema, so expect an immersive old time. If that sounds like a bit too much work, just head straight for the equally new

Top Hat Bar & Restaurant

, where you can sip on Monopoly-themed cocktails, tuck in to a menu of classic British dishes, and hopefully not end up 'going to jail'.

 EXPLORE: Lockdown Love Stories - the show 

Another of the brilliant local art projects inspired by the impact of the pandemic on our lives has expanded from digital beginnings to become a free public exhibition. Philippa Found chalked 

Lockdownlovestories.com

onto the paths in parks across Camden, then gathered anonymous accounts of sex/no sex, cooped up lust, long-distance love, and Zoom-based longing throughout the last 18 months. We loved it so much we featured her in the Camdenist summer print magazine (read the full interview online here). Now a selection of the work can also be found across 13 Derwent London buildings, transforming vacant retail spaces across town into a public art show, very like the Isolating Together photographic exhibition did in Kentish Town back in March. 

Find out the locations of the Stories and lots more about this latest success for Philippa's project

here

. 

 VISIT: Doggy Day with a Drag Diva 

London School of Mosaic

's fabulous hidden NW3 destination, Mother Canteen, hosts a day dedicated to dogs tomorrow (Sat 14). From 10am-4pm your drag host Portia will celebrate all things pooch. Bring along your own four-legged friend to compete in the dog show, and also enjoy live music from gifted jazz singer and piano duo Tayah and JJ. It's all part of the Camden Together season taking place in outdoor locations around the borough all summer, starting with Queen's Crescent.

 FRINGE: Join the debate on the TannOi app 

This page on Camdenist.com, where performers from the current Camden Fringe leave 1-minute voicemail previews of their shows, is proving a big a hit. Now all the messages are available on the new TannOi app, the voice-based social network previewed here. It's totally free to sign up (just search 'Tannoi' in your app store of choice) find the Camdenist community, and you can leave a voice review or join a conversation about any of the shows you see in the summer-long theatre and comedy season. Get involved!

 WATCH: Video for Nige 'Got To Be Me' 

Check this great new video by Kentish Town rapper,

Nige

, shot where he records as part of

NINE8 Collective

, at

Map Studio 

Café. You'll spot plenty of local landmarks (and familiar faces if you frequent the popular backstreet hangout), on a GoPro scooter ride through the area. The track itself a a joyous look at self-acceptance, with pure summertime vibes. Remember, there's another free Kentish Town Square event at 19 Highgate Rd this Sunday with local live music all afternoon. 

 THIS WEEK'S ONE-CLICK POLL Crime statistics generally continue to register historic lows, but that's not always in line with how safe people actually feel. What's your current perception of crime in Camden? 

LAST WEEK WE ASKED:

Camdenist will be starting a series of events later this summer, so we'd love to know: which type are you most likely to attend?

It's great to see enthusiasm for music and cultural events as well as food and drinks dos, too. We'll be announcing plans very soon that may well excite you all. Watch this space as Weekly C-Mail subscribers (that's you) will hear about early bird discounted VIP tickets first. Who knows, we may event tempt the 16% of locals who are currently happy staying indoors to venture out - in a Covid-secure manner, of course...

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OFFER: Remember, Camdenist readers currently can get 20% OFF the price of all tickets for How The Light Gets In, the world's largest festival of philosophy and music, held across the weekend of 18-19 September at Kenwood. Just uses the code CAMDENIST20 at the checkout and we'll see you there.

Camdenist is collaborative and transparent by design. We invite all locals to participate, so we've built a form where you can send us ideas, propose features, and even contribute your own work.

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